The previous US s-service (USMS) seems to carry a small holding of 29,000 bitcoins, a lot decrease than the over 200,000 BTC, which many thought was detained by the federal government.
The up to date figures confirmed by the Freedom of Data Act (FOIA) request by unbiased Crypto journalist L0LA L33TZ on July 16, totaling the federal government complete of 28,988 BTC as of March 2025.
At present costs, the stash is value round $3.4 billion. That is in stark distinction to the $23.5 billion estimates from blockchain analytics platforms similar to Arkham Intelligence and Bitcoin Treasuries.
The contradiction has sparked hypothesis throughout the crypto house, with some observers questioning whether or not the US is quietly promoting Bitcoin Holdings.
(Editor's be aware: Provided that President Trump introduced that Bitcoin seizures will change into a part of the strategic Bitcoin reserve earlier this yr, it’s also doable that Bitcoin is now not beneath the custody of the previous US S.
Does the US promote Bitcoin?
Bitcoin Journal CEO David Bailey instructed that the US is prone to promote a big portion of its BTC reserves earlier than President Donald Trump sworn in January. He identified that the dearth of seen on-chain exercise could show nothing on account of custody involvement.
He stated:
“I believe it's essential that they promote it with out creating an Onchain footprint.”
Sani, a Bitcoin analyst who tracks suspected addresses linked to US authorities wallets, has not confirmed any latest transactions from these addresses.
Nevertheless, he identified that conventional blockchain tracing could now not make clear authorities actions if custodians like Coinbase are selling off-chain swap.
Sani added:
“It might not matter anymore, together with what's actually occurring, all of the on-chain monitoring we've been doing, mine.”
Senator Cynthia Ramis, a nationwide Bitcoin Reserve Voice Advocate, responded with concern in regards to the improvement. She stated:
“If that's the case, this can be a full strategic blunder and we're again the US with the Bitcoin race.”
Seized vs. Bitcoin
L33TZ has revealed that the FOIA request will solely cowl “forfeitured” Bitcoin belongings which were legally transferred to authorities possession.
She stated many belongings, similar to ongoing investigations and people tied to hacks like Bitfinex, usually are not but authorities property and will reside in different federal businesses such because the DEA and the FBI.
She highlighted that platforms like Arkham may misrepresent the full by combining crushed and confiscated cash. L33TZ identified:
“For instance, Arkham lists 94K BTC from Bitfinex Hack, however forfeiture of Bitfinex circumstances has not been determined no less than once we checked it final time.”
Blockchain safety knowledgeable Taylor Monaghan identified that authorized custody isn’t corresponding to possession, and offered additional clarification.
She famous that in lots of circumstances, the cash seized remained the property of the victims and would by no means change into belongings of the US authorities.
Monaghan highlighted ongoing authorized proceedings, from citizen confiscation to IEEPA, and decided the destiny of the seized property.
She cited a number of examples, together with circumstances by which the FBI holds $40 million within the code at present linked to the August 2024 theft, however these cash are anticipated to be returned to their authentic homeowners beneath the phrases of the judicial contract.
With this in thoughts, Monster Hunter states:
“Usually, cash seized by the USG is not going to change into USG's property. They are going to be returned to hacked or fraudulent victims.”
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